In this new column, Mogue ranks monthly trends and current events from the month of February …

Denna Nazem | Co-Spread Editor & Laura Madeira | Co-Arts and Lifestyle Editor 

HIGHBROW:
Celebrities:
Gigi Hadid:
Gigi Hadid is THE “it” girl right now. Making headlines and magazine covers, Hadid dominated New York Fashion Week and continues to make her mark in the fashion world. Hadid also just got named the new face of Covergirl which will hopefully mean that we are going to see her flawless skin in more magazines and ads. Arguably one of the classiest top models right now, she also graced Bravo viewers with her presence on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which her mom and formed model, Yolanda Foster, is a cast member of. Plus her entire family is a beautiful mixture of Palestinian and Dutch giving them an unbeatable complections. And on top of it all she’s dating Cody Simpson and together they make one of the cutest couples on Instagram. Keep workin’ it Gigi!

Power Couple – John Legend & Chrissy Teigen:
All throughout award season, the spotlight has been on this year’s hottest couple: John Legend and Chrissy Teigen. John Legend picked up awards for his original song “Glory” featured in the movie Selma at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes, while Teigen came to fame through her modeling in Sports Illustrated. Teigen has killed it on the red carpet with her most noteworthy dresses at the Golden Globes and at the Oscars in Zuhair Murad both times. Post NFL Honors, both Teigen and Legend were spotted in an Instagram picture with Kim and Kanye at a Waffle House that taught us all that the “happy couple” look is significantly better than the “smize” look Kim and Kanye go for.

Lady Gaga/Julie Andrews:
Before every commercial break at the Oscars, host Neil Patrick Harris mentioned Lady Gaga’s upcoming performance with as few details as possible. When we heard this over and over we half expected her to come out wearing some sort of food product pretending it was an outfit, giving some over the top performance that would trend on twitter. Much to our surprise, she came out wearing an elegant ballgown that really simplified her look and brought out her natural beauty. Lady Gaga shocked the audience, and the world by singing the most famous songs from “The Sound of Music” made famous by the untouchable, Julie Andrews. While it is an impossible goal to achieve, Lady Gaga paid the highest tribute to one of the best singers, and classiest people of all time. Following the performance, Julie Andrews graced the world with her presence on stage, even prompting an Instagram shoutout from Anne Hathaway. We would like to thank Lady Gaga for doing one of the best movies of all time justice.

Fashion:
Oscar Dresses – Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Zoe Saldana, and Lupita Nyong’o:
Even though none of these ladies were nominated for Oscars, they managed to steal the show. All four women dazzled in beautiful iridescent, light-colored looks. Jennifer Aniston, in a glimmering Atelier Versace gown, once again proved to the world that she indeed does not age – how it is possible for someone to look so flawless after all these years never ceases to amaze us all. The other Jennifer, brought yet another stunning metallic look to the red carpet in a one-of-a-kind Elie Saab masterpiece. JLo, like Jennifer Aniston, maintains a perfect body no matter what age. Zoe Saldana kills the red carpet once again. Saldana, who gave birth to twins only three months ago, flaunted her in shape body in another Atelier Versace blush pink gown. Saldana has ruled every red carpet she has walked on and, like a Buzzfeed article says, her stylist should definitely go to heaven. In a cruel twist of events for the fashion world, someone broke into Lupita Nyong’o’s hotel room and stole her one of a kind Calvin Klein dress pictured above. Reports are now saying that the dress rumored to be work $150,000 was actually made with fake pearls and worth significantly less, and was therefore recovered at the hotel it was stolen from. This drama only brought more attention to the dress and how effortlessly Lupita pulled it off. Many wondered if she could ever look as amazing as she did at last year’s oscar in the famous light blue Prada dress, and now we have our answer: yes.

Technology:
1010!:
1010! rivals flappy bird for it’s addictive qualities. The game is essentially tetris, but without blocks falling. You are given three different blocks at the bottom of the screen that you are supposed to put together to make lines, and eventually clear the board. One of the most frustrating aspects is that you can’t rotate any of the blocks, nor do you know which ones are coming next. You die in the game when there’s nowhere you can put the next block. With the popularity of the app skyrocketing, competition has broken out for the highest score. If you walk into the quad at any moment there are at least five people playing 1010! guaranteed.

Instagram Direct:
While Instagram Direct may seem like an innovation of the past, it is making a steady comeback. Originally launched in December 2013, Instagram Direct Message is now frequently used to send pictures into accounts as well as back and forth between friends. Plus, if you’re wondering which filter to use on that ever-important Instagram post, you can add a filter and send it to your friends to get their input; the world has now been saved, thank you Instagram.

Event Snapchat Stories:
Thanks to Snapchat’s live feeds from big events such as the Vanity Fair Oscars After-Party, users no longer have to wait those painful 8-12 hours before they can see pictures of their favorite celebrities in their element. The live feeds also cover big sporting events such as the X games and the Superbowl. While it can give you extreme FOMO (fear of missing out) and can sometimes be over 200 seconds long, the feeds allow you to live vicariously through people at events that interest you.

Entertainment:
Oscar Winners:
All the Oscar nominees are Highbrow in our book, but this year’s winners were extraordinary. Birdman sweeped claiming awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. Eddie Redmayne won Best Actor for his insanely accurate portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Julianne Moore won Best Actress for her amazing performance as a woman getting Alzheimer’s in Still Alice. J.K. Simmons won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Terence Fletcher, an extremely strict music instructor in Whiplash. Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress for her role as the mother in Boyhood, a movie filmed with the same actors over 12 years.

Memes:
The Best Reaction:
In response to Patricia Arquette moving Best Supporting Actress Oscar acceptance speech regarding equal pay for women, Jennifer Lopez and Meryl Streep celebrated loudly, showing support for such powerful message.

LOWBROW:
Celebrities:
Kim and Kanye and North:
After North West cried during Kanye’s fashion show, babies are now banned from New York Fashion Week. No matter how perfectly North has mastered the “smize” she’s still a baby, and babies cry; even front row at NYFW. Better luck next time Wests.

Fashion:
Weather-Confused Outfits:
Compared to the brutality occurring on the east coast right now, winter is a joke in California. One trial we must face is ever-confusing weather. In eight hours you go from freezing to sweating. However bad the weather confusion may be, there is nothing worse than a weather confused outfit. Sweaters with shorts and Uggs are the bane of our existence. Pick a temperature, dress accordingly, and be done with it.

Technology:
Snapchat Discover:
Snapchat discover now gives you 12 different magazines right at your finger tips. But let’s be honest, none of us look at any of them except for the occasional Cosmopolitan and or People. The only person that’s actually benefitting from this is snapchat, who are presumably generating a greater income. We can only hope that this goes away soon and quickly.

Snapcash:
Snapcash is probably the most useless feature of snapchat’s recent updates. The new feature allows people to be able to send their snapchat friends cash by using the app. Why you would choose this method rather than giving someone cash in person is beyond me. Try again, snapchat.

Entertainment:
50 Shades of Grey:
One of the most anticipated movies of the year after the success of the original book by E L James, this movie could not have been a bigger flop. With the book being written by a female, you would assume that the main female character, Anastasia wouldn’t be such a cliche. However, Ana is a classic weak girl being drawn in and made submission to an abuse man. In an age of women empowerment, especially in the movies, what was E L James thinking?

Memes:
Ugly Dress Changing Colors:
For the past week, the internet has blown up with the question: what color is the dress. Whether you see black and blue or gold and white, the dress is actually blue and black. Accept it and move on.

Boy Magcon Viners:
After almost two years of existence, vine has created numerous “vine famous” people. However, none are as annoying as the group known as the MAGCON boys. The group of boys is about eight that all range from ages 16-19. Now that they are all “famous” their vines have become painfully try-hard and have lost their humor all together. It seems that their seven seconds of fame is almost over.

Check back next month for our next update!